see ow january 2. that's it for us. check out the fox news factor web site, which is different from bill o'reilly dot-com. the key point is on power. also, we would like you to spout off about the factor from anywhere in the world. i am going to force miss laura to read some of this mail tomorrow. name and town, name and town if you wish to opine. word of the of the day, do not be a noddy when writing to the factor. i am bill o'reilly. please, always remember that the spin stops right here because bee are -- we are definitely looking out for you. >> sean: this is a fox news alert. the republican leadership in the house do not have enough votes to pass speaker john boehner's plan "b." just moments ago, we learned

that they have pulled the bill. now, this is how it all went down. the house, unexpectedly called a recess, which effectively postponed this vote. watch this. >> voting in the affirmative is passed themologists to reconsider is laid upon the table. the house will stand in recess, subject to the call of the chair. >> sean: after the recess was called, republican lawmakers were called into a emergency meeting for what appears to have been a last-ditch effort to whip the votes. but they didn't get them. after pulling the bill, speaker john boehner put out this statement, quote: >> sean: now the house has passed legislation to stop all the january 1 tax rate increases and replace the sequester with responsible spending cuts that will begin to address our nation's crippling debt. the senate must now act. joining me, two republican

lawmakers who were in that emergency meeting. congressman allen west and congresswoman marcia westburn. congressman west, let me begin with you. i wanted this from the beginning because the house already passed their bill that would have extended the bush tax cuts for everybody. i would have preferred they go forward if they needed to pass it again. what happened there today? >> the most important thing, speaker boehner realized he did not have the votes and he did the pragmatic thing to say, we have acted and frozen the rates in place and we have taken action with a spending cut bill, passed tonight that would stave off sequestration for a year. so the most important thing, sean, is that we have to look to senator harry reid and president barack obama and they have to own this economy, the debt, the deficit, the failures we have seen and we can't look to us. we have done regular order. we passed legislation and good policy.

now the ball is in their court. >> sean: congresswoman, your reaction? would you have voted for it? >> no, i would not have. allen's exactly right. we passed the tax extender bill. we passed the sequestration bill to take care of those issues. the tax reform pathway was passed, all of this was done between may 5 and september 19. those bills have been on harry reid's desk since that time. they could have taken them up, amended, voted, gone to conference. this is a crisis of their making. leaders make choices and harry reid made a chase to not take those bills up and troy to push this to a crisis. in the house, the american people have said, that is not what we want. i have a lot of appreciation for speaker boehner. he did the right thing. he let the house work through regular order. and i -- it was the right decision to make. >> sean: you know, the interesting thing, congressman west, is that against the desire of a lot of conservatives,

including both and you congresswoman blackburn and me and other conservative groups out there, they were against the fact that the speaker was willing to give in on tax rates in any way. so the fact that -- they were willing-- the speaker was willing to do that shows, what? >> well, i think that the speaker tried to exhaust every avenue of approach that he could. he tried to, you know, in good faith, negotiate with the president. we saw that that was not going anywhere. at the end of the day, we have been toibl to draw the contrast of what we are as constitutional conservatives and the president, as a liberal progressive, who believes this is about more taxing of the american people. we haven't even talked about the 20 new taxes in the affordable care act, going to hit the american people. we have a president who does not realize, it's a spending problem that is happening. we don't see any reduction of the debt, any reduction in the deficit. yet, he is asking the american

people to provide him more of their hard-earned resources. that's want how we are going to turn this economy around. what we stand for is wealth expansion, not wealth redistribution. >> sean: congresswoman, i watched the president. the speaker gave in on rates, as we learn, a lot of of his caucus wasn't happy with it. within second, the president rejected it anyway -- harry reid wasn't going to take it up anyway. it seems to me, the president has wanted from the beginning to go over the cliff. he gets taxes going up on everybody. he gets defense is cuts and he gets to blame republicans. has he been playing politics? >> so many of our constituents -- i had a constituent last week say he's the driver in chief when it comes to going over the fiscal cliff. you are exactly right. the american people know it. he said, look, let's cut the deficit in half. this is someone who said, let's get the spinned -- spending under control and then he comes in to address the fiscal cliff issues and all of a sudden, no

spending, but he wants another $twenty1 trillion in revenue. our constituents have been saying to us, do not vote for this. do not support it. when i had a teletown hall with my constituent, 86% said this is a spending problem, do not increase revenues and not cut spending. the time has come where you can no longer spend more. you have to make certain you're taxing less and spending less. >> sean: i really would like to see congressman west, one thing. i would like to see the republican party be the party of limited government, lower taxes and the party that stands up against generational theft. this seems to be a very strong case to make and the american people voted for a republican congress. and they voted for divided government. can that case be made? >> i think absolutely. if there is a lesson from the november 6 election, sure, the president was re-elected to be

in the white house. but we were saw that marcia blackburn and the conservatives and the republican party will be in control of the 113 congress in the house of representatives. so the american people do not want to see the excessive spending that they saw in the first two years of the obama administration. now what we have to do is stand by those principles and create that contrast in what we believe in. we proved that, earlier. and the bills are on harry reid's desk. we have to see what they want to see happen, as far as the fescal situation for the american people. >> sean: congresswoman, very important. a lot of people are very curious tonight. they were taught that there were still negotiations going on between the speakert and president. are those negotiations continuing? is there still talk about a plan "a"? is that a possibility in your mind? >> i don't know if those negotiations are -- are continuing. but i do know that the speaker in one of his statements tonight

said that having two people trying to negotiate this -- it does not replace having the house go through regular order. and the committees work their will. chses what we have done this year, sean. what we have done in sending those bills to the senate. they are on harry reid's desk. some of them have been there since may, some since august, some since september. all harry reid had to do was to have the fortitude to pick them up, off his desk and put them on the senate floor and call for cloture. >> sean: let me say the republicans, as one conservative, i am not a republican, but i want the republican party to be the conservative party in america, as one conservative, i wanted from the beginning this to be the party that stands up and says, we have a spenning problem. we are borrowing 46 cents of every dollar that we spend. social security and medicare's going bankrupt. i upon applauding all of you. i think this is a victory for the american people. >> agreed.

>> sean: where do we go from here, congressman allen west? i only wish you were there? >> well, you won't be losing my voice. as i told my colleagues, i will be continuing to press the attack from the right flank. but the most important thing is we take this message, as you said, limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual sovereignty, our free marketplace and strong national defense and get the american people to understand that we have to turn it around, as far as the out-of-control spending. 62% of our budget is on the mandatory spending side. we have to tackle that and have priorities and budgets done. i think that's what marcia blackburn and the republican study committee and the great constitutional conservatives will continue to do. i will be riding on their flank, doing the same thing. >> sean: we have to stop stealing from our kids. this is a great night for the country. this will help save america and get us on the right path. i applaud all of you for taking the courageous stand that you

did, in spite of all the efforts by the republicans to try to meet the president 90% of the way. he won't budge. he's taking the country over the fiscal cliff. we know where the blame is. thank you both. >> thank you very much. merry christmas. >> sean: merry christmas and happy new year. coming up, we monitor the breaking news. there will be no vote inside the house of representatives on the so-called plan "b." we will get reaction from bill bennett. the president hits a new low, trying to exploit the newtown tragedy. this time, it has nothing to do with gun control. we will play that tape as "hannity" continues. i'm doing my own sleep study. advil pm® or tylenol pm. the advil pm® guy is spending less time lying awake

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>> sean: this is a fox news alert. moments ago, the republican leadership was forced to pull speaker john boehner's plan "b" off the floor because they did not have the votes. john boehner says it's up to president barack obama to hammer out a debt reduction deal to prevent a dive off the so-called

fiscal cliff. joining me with more reaction to this developing story, bill bennett. sir, welcome back. >> hi, sean. thank you. >> sean: i know you disagree with me a little bit here. i think you were more supportive of boehner giving in on the tax rates. i think this is a victory for the country. i know-- the tock market's are going down at this hour. >> yeah. >> sean: if we don't face the real cliff now, bill bennett, and wekeep borrowing 46 cents of every dollar and we don't deal with spending, why do i fear, we are never going to recover? this is that serious. >> you may be right. the circumstances are that the circumstances are not good. there is a large question out there. allen west -- you know, i admire him so much and marcia and yourself. he said, the american people have spoken, we know what they want. i am not sure what do know what they want. we thought we knew what they

wanted in 2010 is we got this selection in 2012. but i was sympathetic to boehner here was strategic positioning. what happens next? i understand the principle position and i see the point. i think you are right. he takes us over the cliff and then he proposes to restore the bush tax rates for everybody except the top 1%, 2%, 3%. what do the republicans do at that point? do they vote against that? i don't think they can-- bill bennett -- >> please, sure. >> sean: this is i. it's your show. >> sean: if we go over there cliff, you can blame the senate democrats and you can blame barack obama because they do not have a desire or a willingness to deal with the fact that they're driving us into bankruptcy. and -- >> i agree with that. >> sean: the republican party fit means they take a moral stance to go over the cliff on principle, i am going over the cliff with them. i think it's the right thing to do. >> i understand.

i understand that position. who's going to get the credit in who will get the blame-- who cares. >> well -- it matters because we have elections coming up. we need the american people to support us. look, we are not in a good position. we weren't in a good position if we had gotten plan "b." we are not in a good position now that plan "b" is rejected. you think it's a better position. you may be right. it depends what the american people think. sooner or later, sean, he owns it, allen is right. he own its. he got it. he got what he wanted. he will get what he wants and the american people have to decide if the consequences are what they want to live with-- let me ask you i. go ahead. >> sean: look, i would even argue that the party that takes the stand to prevent this country from going bankrupt and robbing from our kids -- i would argue that's noble. one of my favorite bill bennett books -- and i have read them all, the book of virtues. >> yes, sir. >> sean: we ardmired ronald

reagan because he wouldn't go for a bad deal. the world condemned him. this seems like a moment where republicans should explain we are not going to steal our kids' money. >> that's our only choice now. i mean if "b" goes down, boehner's weekend and our only choice is to explain what we are done and why the president has taken us over the cliff. i'm saying it's a steep climb and a haul. we know about the obama machine. we know what you will do. you will behave in the rit way. a lot of americans will, too. but we know what happened in november. this is what worries me. our first principle, and make the argument. but my guess, sean, we are not going to make the argument successfully. we are not going to prevail until people see what barack obama has wrought. they put him in. they are going to be punished for it. but it could take a year or two. >> sean: we have to worry about an election -- if a month after the election, we have to worry about the next election -- when

is there a period when we can actually govern? if not now, then when? >> we can't govern-- this seems like the perfect time. >> we can't govern. we have one-half of one-third. >> sean: we can stop bad government. >> we can stop some bad government. but obviously, we can't stop a lot of bad government. >> sean: the house has control of spending, constitutionally. >> yes, we can, we can face cliff after cliff after cliff. we are not in a good position. was this the right thing to do? maybe. but we have to live with the consequences, explain the consequences and have people face up to reality. look, i think this president is wrecking the country. that's what i said all during this campaign-- somebody's got -- >> not a lot of people agreed with me. a lot of people have to stand up to it. but i think the american people have to see the consequences of the decision they made in november. >> sean: last point, the american people voted for divided government. they basically voted for the

status quo. i don't think so they voted for republicans to raise taxes and keep spending. i think they voted for the republicans to be the check and balance which i am proud tonight that they have been. >> that may be true. you can be proud, but the status quo, the way we are going, we cannot surf vive. it has to change. >> sean: this is one fiscal cliff -- it's coming. >> yes, sir. >> sean: bill bennett, god bless you, merry christmas. >> thank you, sean. >> sean: and coming up, we have new development also tonight. we will continue to follow this story on what is going on with the fiscal cliff. also, the latest on the benghazi coverup. we are now learning that security warnings mahave gone as far as to hillary clinton's office. still, nothing was done. we have the report and the details from today's hearing coming up. president obama -- believe it or not actually exploiting the newtown shooting. and he's doing it, why? to help get the american people to pay more in taxes. we will tell you how he's doing

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>> sean: this is a fox news alert. breaking developments out of the house of representatives as john boehner's plan "b" for the fiscal cliff gets pulled tonight. they did not have enough votes to pass this plan. notice the president is releasing a statement, saying he will work with congress to prevent tax hikes from going up for 98% of americans, but obviously, the time is ticking. meanwhile, there are other developments out of washington today, when it comes to the white house coverup of the benghazi terrorist attack that killed four americans on september 11. a state department official admits that cables warning about serious security concerns went to the highest levels of the state department and possibly seen by the secretary of state hillary clinton. now, here's how we learned all of this. secretary clinton was supposed

to testify before lawmake ors capitol hill earlier today. but due to a so-called concussion, she was forced to reschedule. deputy secretary of state william burns went in her place. during his testimony, burns acknowledged these cables actually existed and went all the way up the chain. watch this. >> the department review was briefed on the cables sent from the post in june and august of 2011, regarding the security situation, to what level did those cables get reviewd? >> well, they certainly would have been reviewed up through assistant secretary and maybe some of my colleagues on the seventh floor saw them as well. >> sean: guess who sits on the seventh floor? secretary of state hillary clinton. this damning news comes one day after an independent review board released its blistering report, blaming the state department for various inadequacies. four state department officials have already resigned and i think we are just beginning to scratch the surface. joining me are two lawmakers at the hearing.

senator mike lee and senator john barrasso. welcome to "hannity." thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having us. >> sean: senator lee, quick question on the news, on the house, they didn't have the votes. what does this mean, considering harry reid wasn't going to take it up anyway? >> we need a plan. we need real leadership from the president, who needs to come to the table with cuts and needs to acknowledge that the government is not living within its means because it's spending too much. we have a lot of revenue. but we need to find areas to cut. it takes leadership. the president needs to come to the table and to help us come up with ideas of where to cut. >> sean: the president has wanted to play politics with this from the beginning. senator barrasso. there is a very damning report on benghazi. i wanted to get your reaction to the testimony today? >> well, it's a very damning report. it shows you that mistakes were made, lives were lost and

hopefully, lessons will be learned. we need to hear from the secretary of state. i believe the president and this administration had a deliberate coverup, if you want to call it that or an effort to deceive the american people from the beginning... of this. we need to know the president promised he would find out and get to the bottom of this, who did this? who's responsible? we still don't know. i asked that question in the hearings today and basically, i was stonewalled with an answer. we need secretary of state clinton to testify in person, in public and on the record. >> sean: well, when you heard senator lee, that it went to the seventh floor and that's where hillary clinton's office is. is it likely she could have seen this? we were told there were warnings at the annex and at the consulate, say that this risk was great -- as far back as a week or two before. is that true also, sir? >> yeah, i think that is true. what we have to remember at the end of the day, sean, this is important to know, it's good to know that there were security

lapses that were foreseen, that left our u.s. mission in benghazi vulnerable and unfortunately, tragically, led to the deaths of four brave americans. what remains unanswered is why it is that the president, fif days after this happened was still insisting thro his spokesperson that this was somehow the result of an anti-islam video. >> sean: actually two, weeks later, if we go to where he was on "the view" and at the u.n., isn't that correct? >> yeah. look this narrative continued for weeks. it continued within the first few days afterwards with susan rice and continueda for several weeks, well after -- we now know -- they understood that this was a result of a terrorist attack. a terroristac tack that they understood was an attack and that they also understood stemmed from a lack of preparedness in response to a relatively foreseeable attack. >> sean: senator barrasso.

i conclude and i have been following this from the very beginning. most what have we said, if not all, turn theed out to be correct. it seems to me, this was -- we were purposely misled because of an election. now, there are people that were actually eyewitnesses that survived. they were at the consulate when it was attacked. where are these people? when will they testify? >> we want to hear from all of those people. the american people want and expect answers. but you are absolutely right. the facts on the ground were, flew in the face of what the president was talking about in the election. he was saying that al qaeda is on the run. but we know for a fact that al qaeda connected operatives were training in eastern libya, not very far from benghazi. this was a hot bed for terrorist training. yet, it didn't really follow what the president was saying for his election narrative. that's why i think, sean, this was a deliberate deception. >> sean: thank you very much. we will continue to follow the story that the mainstream media ignores.

four dead americans, including two seals and the first ambassador killed in 30 years. obviously, a coverup. we will get to the bottom of t. gentlemen, thank you very much. >> thank you, eighteen. >> sean: we have a lot more breaking news on hant. sometimes even i am stunned at the audacity of our political, opportunist president. when we come back, wait until you hear that he is using the tragedy in newtown to push -- well -- not gun control. it's deeper than that. speaking of the president, when is he going to help this former marine? that guy right there? he has been sit income a mexican prison since august on false gun charges. it is time to bring jon hammar, an american hero home for christmas. mr. president, will you help him? trust duracell to power their donated toys? duralock power preserve. it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage.

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>> sean: this is a fox news alert. moments ago, the republican

leadership was forced to pull speaker john boehner's plan off the house floor because they did not have the votes. now, can the president and congress strike an 11th-hour deal to prevent the fiscal cliff fall? it is not looking likely. in shameful fashion, president barack obama is attempting to use the sandy hook tragedy to force republicans to cave into his own fiscal cliff demands. now this widely offensive comments were made in an impromptu news conference yesterday. take a look at this. >> goodness, if... if this past week has done anything it should just give us some perspective. i mean, if there is one thing we should have after... this week, it should be a sense of perspective about what's important. and, you know, i would like to think that members of the caucus would say to themselves, you know what? we disagree with the president

on a whole bunch of things. we wish the other guy had won. we are going to fight him on a whole range of issues over the next four years. we think his philosophy is all screwed up. but right now, what the country needs is for us to compromise. >> sean: joining us now, nationally syndicated talk show host of the billy cunningham show and former clinton special counsel, lenny davis. if latin, that's known as a nonsec tor, is it not? we had a hurricane and a school shooting, therefore you can go with my tax increases and massive spending. help me out here? >> sean hannity, i think what we are hearing from the president, innocent babies are dead, let's increase taxes. there is no connection between those events. i spoke to a congressman about 8:15 tonight. about six, seven hours ago, the head counters in the house had a

five-vote margin for the positive because of the tea party club for growth, there was an inunidation of the congress republicans about threats of being primaried. what happened over the last five or six hours, at the last meeting, 25 negative votes were in the republican caucus and boehner came to the meeting and said, merry christmas. let's all go home. we can't get it done. let's put it back in obama's lap. let's put it back in lanny davis's lap. babies are killed. let's increase taxes? >> the president ran a nasty, vicious campaign. i didn't see it in your purple nation column because you are so objective. you say you are down the middle. you can make a lot of arguments for bigger spending and borrowing 46 cents of every dollar and robbing our kids blind -- but, you are going to use a hurricane and a school shooting to say, in light of these tragedies, give me my tax cut -- i'm sorry, my tax increase? you gotta be kidding me!

that's about as grotesque as i have seen from any politician. >> first of all, i would like to wish both of you a merry christmas. >> sean: stop it! >> that wonderful setup question, and mr. cunningham, thanks for that. i 100% agree with president obama that the trag fee tragedyn connecticut leads many americans, not just him, to say it the way he said it -- not the way you say it. but this is a tragedy. and it does force to you put things in perspective. that's exactly right. what he said is, it's time for america to come together-- lanny -- that's not what he said. i have it right here -- >> repeat it. >> sean: after all we have gone through in the past several months, a devastating hurricane and now one of the worst tragedies in memory, the country deserves the folks to be willing to compromise for the greater good. >> that's exactly right -- let's put it in perspective is exactly right. now it's time to compromise and come together as a people. i could not agree with him more.

i do not agree with your way of expressing it. i don't have to follow your words. that's the way -- i would wager million of americans nodded their heads-- i doubt it -- >> come together in a tragic moment and start to work together as a unified group-- bill cunningham -- the congressmen said that the president should exploit t. we know what ram said, never let a tragedy go to waste. >> compromise means agreeing with me. see, i am a perjury friend of john boehner. i have known him for 25 years. viconversations with him. i am not going to share over national tv those conversations. but he had a promise from obama, if you raise tax rates, i will fulfill my promise of 2 1/2 times spending cuts to tax increases. it took a lot for john to come forward and say, okay, we are going to increase taxes by

$twenty1 trillion over 10 years. mr. president, show me the $2.5 trillion in spending cuts and he wants 2 1/2 to 1 to 1 to 1. lanny davis, over the next 10 years, there will be $45 trillion spent by the federal government -- $45 trillion -- you talk about $1 trillion in cuts?! that's ridiculous! >> well, look, i han to agree that we have to do something about this national debt. president obama has put for the first time, against the base of his party, to increase the -- change the cost of living adjustments in social security, reducing the benefits. he's going against his base. he is within $300 billion of what mr. boehner has proposed -- snow he's not. >> it's veries are very close, mr. boehner can comp plies and do something about the debt. i agree, we need to do something about it -- >> greta: obama wants the fiscal cliff and he's going to do --

going to get it. >> sean: former marine, jon hammar remains behind bars in a mexican prison, over trumped-up gun charges. how can we get him home safe? with a select terrain dial that adjusts the jeep grand cherokee's performance for specific weather and road conditions... ♪ ...even heavy snowstorms... won't keep you from getting to work. our apologies. ♪ you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®.

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>> sean: u.s. marine jon hammar has been joiled in one of the most notorious prisons in mex mexico notice for more than four months. the iraq and afghanistan veteran was arrested for bringing an antique shotgun, approved by u.s. customs across the border. conditions are deteriorating, as he remains chained to a bed. it's time for government officials in mexico and the u.s. to step up to the plate and get him home. enrique pena is the president of the mexico. he has the power to free hammar immediately, so does president barack obama. however, his administration continues to fail the hammar family. his press secretary said he didn't even know about the case. according to hammar's mom and dad, the state department has refused to help their son.

tonight, we have to demand something be done to help this american hero. it's time to bring hammar home. earlier today, ionmcdonugh did the same thing. >> please, if we can take peep out of north korea, and they have reported all over the world and back up the entire rest of the world, can't we bring one of our own home? just one guy who is not 10 miles from thehere with reaction, co-f "the five," kimberly guilfoyle and eric bolling i had the family on the program. they have been trying for months. he's been here since august. let me play what jay carney. he didn't even know about this. they didn't know that an iscprak afghanistan war hero was in prison. >> we don't know all the facts of the case, what he did, what we didn't do, but his family has asked the white house to look into it.

is there anything to ascertain whether or not he's innocent? we don't know what happened. >> iville to take the question. i don't know the facts myself on that. i will have to take the question. >> sean: that's shocking. >> pitiful, really. it's unconscionable. how can we allow someone who didn't do anything wrong, who went to register the weapon and does he clair it and he is detained because they want to extort his family for money. that's the triewghts. but nevertheless, we are allowing this to continue on. why didn't the administration know about it? why was jay carn you unprepared to answer a question about an american chained to a bed in mexico? we have leverage over mexico. it should be used. it should be enforced right now. >> sean: there are two points here. first one is, he did everything right, eric. he was in a winnebago. he went to u.s. customs. he volunteered, told them he had the weapon with him. it's his grandfather's shotgun.

they said, fine, go across the border, declare it. you will be fine. that's the rules. >> apparently, the only one who can bring guns across the border is eric holder with fast & furious. bottom line, i will tell that you barack obama could get on the stage and say, get in front of the podium, put the seal there and say, listen, mexico, time to release our man. get him back right now. you remember when one of -- rush limbaugh made a comment about sandra fluke -- the next day, president obama is defending sandra fluke. where is he when a mac is chained to a bed in mexico? if he doesn't want to do that, he can say, look, number 1 most... the the country we buy most of our crude from, canada and mexico. maybe we have to rethink who we are buying our oil from. >> sean: all it would take, kim beverly, go to the podium and say, can we have this guy sent home? i don't think it would take 24 hours. >> mick a request.

we have the leverage to be able tow exert pressure on mexico. it should be utilized. otherwise, this is sending the wrong pledgee to everyone that it's okay to keep ask detain americans for a crime they didn't commit. what's the message? that doesn't make americans free and safe outside of this country, especially with mexico. they need us! financially. they depend on us in many ways. >> the point you made, sean. he literally declared the gun on the u.s. side and said i have this gun. he wasn't tried to hide anything. i have -- take the gun and the paperwork that you had -- brick it over to mexico. if nothing else, our border patrol could say, look, come on, guys, we thought it was okay. we sent him to you. there are so many reasons why this guy should be out. >> president bush and dick cheney would not have this. he would be home. that's the thing. that's the truth, that's the

juxposition. >> sean: what do we find out this week. another gun from fast & furious was -- mentioned, eric -- showed up at a site where a murder took place. >> another crime scene. >> sean: our government, they gave guns to kidnappers, gangsters, murderers, drug dealers. and no outrage from the very people that are demanding -- you know that america deal with the gun issue. >> we have -- we have the opportunity to bring a marine back right now. now, there are those on the left that say, there are thousands of people in mexican -- a thousand americans in mexican prisons. this ghi was in foo folosia, afghanistan. bring him back. where's hillary clinton? is her concussion making her incapable of making -- picking up the phone and saying, let our guy go? maybe. >> sean: well said. guys, merry christmas to all of you on "the five" and thanks for being with us. >> thanks. >> sean: coming up, does this

billboard paid for by american eighthiets -- does it offend you? ainsley earhardt hit the streets of times square to find out. i square off with the president of the organization behind the sign, that explosive "hannity" shootout coming up next. you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underarm. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acnen women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts;

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>> sean: welcome back to "hannity." a group called american atheists are not getting into the holiday spirit. just in time for christmas, they put this billboard up. keep the merry, dump the method. ainsley earhardt hit the streets of new york city to see what people thought of this advertisement. take a look. >> reporter: ladies, could i ask your reaction about this billboard? do you see this? can says, keep the merry but dump the myth. it's a picture of jesus. what do you think. >> i don't like it. >> reporter: why not? >> why is it easier to believe in a man in a fuzzy red suit than that christ lived and was born 2,000 years ago? >> jesus is the reason for the season. >> that's really crazy. i mean, wasn't sant at myth? >> i don't like it. >> reporter: why don't you like it? >> because i think christmas is... christ. >> reporter: does that upset you? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> that's what it is all about, it's about jesus.

>> reporter: it means keep the merry, keep sant abut du. myth. they are calling christ a myth. >> that's where it all started. santa claus came after christ. >> no, no, no. >> we serve a living god. that's his son of he walked this earth. >> you know, christmas, the whole holiday season is because of christ. >> the billboard is unfortunately, it's inflammatory, it doesn't do much to educate people. >> i have not even noticed that. horrible. >> disgusting. >> reporter: if christ were here, what do you think he would say? >> he would be disappointed i think. >> reporter: are you surprised to see that in new york? >> no, i am not surprised to see anything in new york. >> reporter: what's your message for the people who put that up? >> if you really believe that, there is no reason to, you know, try to impose your viewpoint on everyone else. >> reporter: keep and you dump christ? >> they're wrong. >> reporter: if they had to dump one, which one would you pick? >> sean: wow. joining me, dave silverman, the

president of american atheist, the group who put up the billboards. you didn't put up your money? >> we have lots of donors. >> sean: i don't care what your views are. you don't believe in god. that's fine. is it just christians you are picking on? in other words, have you done a billboard campaign against people who are jewish or muslims? >> yes, we have. >> sean: what have you done? >> we put up a billboard in elizabeth, new jersey, that says, you know it's a myth in arabic and in brooklyn that said, you know it's a myth-- what was the reaction ?ie. the islamic people were all about, this is a free country. you can say what you want. >> sean: look at the reaction to the danish cartoons or look at the reaction to the youtube video. salmon rushdie and the satanic verses. >> actually, that's a forger terrorism. that's a form of them getting us to obey their religious beliefs without imposing the rule of law.

they scare us into obeying their religious beliefs. >> sean: [overlapping dialogue] >> sean: i get t. you are an atheist. i am not going to convince you. you believe nothing can come from nothing, which is what i think atheists believe. you want to insult people. you want to attack them. you want to -- you know, stick it in the ribs on their holiday. and you just want to be rude and narcissistic and mean. why? >> we have never put up a billboard criticizing people. we criticize religion-- people believe in religion. i look at a picture of jesus and you want to -- you just want to rub salt in a wound. >> no. >> sean: why are you doing it? >> this is the time of year when so many atheists who call themselves christians, drag themselves to church against their own will-- atheists who call themselves christians. >> you said -- let me explain here. okay? they drag themselves to church because they think the church is an integral part of christmas.

it's not. we are saying, for those people, you can keep the merry, you can have a party, you don't have to go to a church in which you don't believe or donate money. >> sean: nobody's forcing to you go to church i. i disagree. >> sean: nobody -- if that's -- you are allowing people to force them to go, that's their problem. >> we are telling them not to-- >> don't allow the people to force to you go to church? we know that a large population of christians are atheists -- >> yes! >> sean: they are really atheists and they don't have the courage of their convictions i mean, you are an atheist, you come on the program and say you are an atheist. >> right. there is a lot of familial and social pressure to keep atheists in the closet. we are trying to relieve that pressure. >> sean: you are too full of yourself to believe that people care -- >> no, they care very much. >> sean: i don't care. >> i know you don't care. but a lot of people do care and they care very much because they think they are alone. we are here to tell the atheists

they are not alone. >> sean: they are that weak that they can have their families pressure them and force them into stating they are believers when they are not. >> i would say forced by their families-- nobody's forced. they are too weak i. i don't want to uses the word weak, but do i want to use the word misguided. we think it's misguided for an atheist to call themselves a christian or a jew or a muslim and they should give the gift of honest theyear-- what happens when you die, what do you think happens? >> you die. it's not a pretty picture. this is it. there is no fantasy here. the reality is that everything dies? >> do you believe in the big bang theory? do you believe in evolution? >> yes, of course. >> sean: my next question, where did all of those molecules and energy come together to collide to create universes within universes, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, human life, animal life and plant -- that